OPT Camera Adapter
$19.95

Due to the theft of my LXD75-8"SC and most of my accessories I had to replace my Scopetronix camera adapters. I decided to get the "OPT Camera Adapter - 1.25" from Oceanside Photo & Telescope.

The adapter comes inside a small white box. Inside the box you will find a nice black metal tube. As you can see in the photos below, the tube unscrews into two components. The piece shown on the bottom ("prime focus adapter") mounts to your eyepiece holder (1.25") and so can be used with any 1.25" astrophotography accessory that accepts 1.25" or just placed in your telescope instead of an eyepiece. Alternatively, you can leave the two components attached together and insert a 1.25" eyepiece (long eyepieces like the Meade 26mm Plossl that comes with the ETX models will not work). The eyepiece is held securely inplace.

For my first images I attached the prime focus adapter to my Shutan Wide Field Adapter mounted at the rear of my ETX-90RA. My Nikon D70 DSLR was attached to the other end of the adapter using a T-Ring adapter (sold separately). (All images below are full-frame, i.e., not cropped.) The first image taken was of the Sun (using a Coronado White-Light Solar Filter):

A few days later I set up the ETX-90RA shortly after Sunset and took these photos of the nearly First Quarter Moon. This one was with the Wide Field Adapter only using the prime focus camera adapter. It was a 1/60sec exposure at ISO 200.

In postprocessing I adjusted the "levels" slightly to lighten up the image. I was quite pleased to see that there was no blurring of the image due to the D70 flip mirror movement.

I then added a Meade #126 Barlow Lens (which I also had to replace as a result of the theft) between the Wide Field Adapter and the prime focus camera adapter. This exposure was 1/125sec at ISO 640.

In postprocessing I adjusted the "levels" slightly to lighten up the image as well as did some unsharp masking. I was quite pleased to see that there was no blurring of the image due to the D70 flip mirror movement at 1/125sec, although there was at 1/60sec.

For the following two images I inserted a Meade 9.7mm Plossl eyepiece (also a replacement) into the eyepiece projection portion of the OPT Camera Adapter. Image vibration from the flip mirror movement was a problem so both photos were taken using the "hat trick" method while the camera was set at its "Bulb" setting. Exposure was approximately 1sec at ISO 1000.

No levels adjustment was needed on either image. Some unsharp masking was done on both images.

I am pleased with the OPT Camera Adapter. It is a high quality and flexible accessory at a very reasonable price. If you are looking for a 1.25" camera adapter for your DSLR or SLR or any camera that can accept a T-Ring, this one may be all you need since it provides both a prime focus adapter and an eyepiece projection adapter.

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